Ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance.



A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE. AMMUNITION HOISTING AND LOADING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANGE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17, 1908.

996,222, Patented June 27, 1911.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS co, WASHINGTON, n- I;

A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE. v AMMUNITION HGISTING AND LOADING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANOB. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17 1908.

996,222, Patented June 27, 1911.

3 BHEET8SHEET 2.

THE mmms psrsns cd, WASHINGTON, n. c.

A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE.

AMMUNITION HOISTING AND LOADING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANGE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17, 190B.

996,222, Patented June 27,1911.

3 SHEETSSHBET 3.

rnz NoRRis Psrzras cc, WASHINGTUN, D. c.

ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, AND JAMES HORNE, OF BARROW-IN-FURNESS, ENGLAND, ASSIG-NORS TO VICKERS SONS & MAXIM, LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

AMMUNITION HOISTING AND LOADING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANCE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON and JAMES HORNE, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing, respectively, at 32 Victoria street, Westminster, in the county of London, England, and Naval Construction lVorks, Barrowin-Furness, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ammunition Hoisting and Loading Apparatus for Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance and is especially adapted for use with turret guns mounted singly or otherwise on board ship or elsewhere.

Heretofore in the usual form of hoisting apparatus, the projectile and powder charges have been brought up from their magazine or storage places, on a hoisting cage whence they have been transferred to a loading cage in the working chamber and by the said loading cage have been elevated to a point behind thebreech of the gun ready to be rammed into the said breech. The loading cage has also in some cases been so arranged that when it has been elevated into alinement with the breech of the gun, it will be capable of following the movements of the gun in its changes in elevation, so as to always occupy the correct loading position.

According to our invention we provide a hoisting cage, which, although loaded and raised in the well-known manner, is adapted to be brought to such a position contiguous to the gun as to permit of the ready transference of the projectile and powder charges to a receiving or loading cage attached to one side of the gun slide or other part of the mounting that moves with the gun. The said receiving cage is so constructed and arranged that after receiving the powder charges and the projectile it can be caused to swing or otherwise assume a position behind the breech of the gun to permit of the ready transfer or loading of the ammunition from the receiving cage into the gun, in whatever position of elevation or depression the latter may assume and whether it is in motion or at rest.

In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect we will describe the same more fully Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 1 9 27, 1911, Application filed November 17, 1908.

Serial No. 463,118.

the receiving cage. Figs. 8, 9, l0 and 11 are views similar to Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 but showing the means for operating the doors of the hoist and the receiving cage.

In all these figures like letters of reference indicate similar parts.

A is the hoisting cage and B is the receiving cage. The hoisting cage is loaded in the magazines at the lower end of the rotary trunk A in the usual manner, the projectile and powder charges lying horizontal or thereabout. The said hoisting cage is guided in its movements up and down the rotary trunk by rails A extending from the magazines to a suitable position at one side of the breech end of the gun. In the example shown the said hoisting cage is raised by a hydraulic press A and a hoisting rope A (Fig. 1) which is carried over suitable guide pulleys or sheaves A A A A and attached to the hoisting cage. The arrangement of the guide pulleys is adapted to provide for the usual compensating action, so as to maintain the hoisting cage, when it is raised, in its correct relative position to the receiving cage B, whether the gun is in motion (changing its angle of elevation) or at rest. In Fig. l the sheave A is carried by the gun slide C so that when the angle of elevation is changed the length of rope con nected with the cage will be correspondingly altered to permit of the cage following the movement of the gun and of the receiving cage. The upper parts of the guide rails A are curved to form arcs concentric with the gun trunnions, in order that the cage A will remain in the required relative position to the receiving cage. The said receiving cage is in Fig. 1 directly attached to an arm B connected to the gun mounting and forming a prolongation of the slide frame. This cage will therefore always move in an are concentric with the gun trunnions when changes in the angle of elevation of the gun occur and will maintain its alinement with the breech of the gun so as to always preserve the proper loading position. The said receiving cage can be either completely carried by the arm B or can be supported on suitable guide rails B and held in position by the said arm, the guide rails being curved to form an arc concentric with the gun trunnions and the guide rails A as shown.

The transference of the ammunition from the hoisting cage H is in the example shown intended to be effected by a rammer D attached to the gun slide or mounting so that it changes its position to accord with the changes in position of the gun in varying its angle of elevation, and therefore always lies in line with the ammunition trays of the receiving cage B and the hoisting cage A when the latter is in its raised position. This rammer is preferably actuated hydraulically, but it may be adapted to be actuated by any other appropriate motive power or by hand.

The receiving cage B is so constructed that the ammunition can be moved laterally into a position of alinement with the gun breech for loading into the gun. For this purpose the said receiving cage is in the example shown made in two parts, one part B being in the form of a frame which is attached to the aforesaid arm B and guided by suitable rollers on the aforesaid rails B and the other part B is pivotally connected at b to the frame. The said pivotal part,

after it has been loaded with the ammunition from the hoisting cage A, can be swung inward into an oblique position behind the breech of the gun with its lower end in alinement with the center of the same as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 7 The projectile which lies at the bottom of the pivotal part of the receiving cage thus lies in aline ment with the bore of the gun and can be pushed into the breech by a rammer E of the usual or other appropriate type. After the projectile has been introduced into the gun the rammer is retracted and the powder charges are permitted to descend into the lower end of the pivotal part of the receiving cage and are in turn introduced into the gun by the rammer, suitable gear or mechanism being provided on the said cage for permit-ting the powder charges to descend one at a time into the loading position, such for example as that set forth in the specification of our prior British Patent No. 3498 of 1907. The aforesaid rammer may be carried directly on a bracket or arm forming a rear extension of the gun slide, in which case it will always lie in alinement with the bore of the gun irrespective of the changes in elevation of the gun. Or it may be of the type in which the rammer is movably supported on a structure or frame E carried on the gun platform at the rear of the gun as shown in Fig. 1 and having suitable flexible connections such as a chain, wire rope or the like from the gun slide or cradle, so arranged as to maintain the rammer head in line with the bore of the gun within the loading limits or zone when the gun changes its angle of elevation.

To operate the pivotal part of the receiving cage B so as to bring the lower end into alinement with the breech of the gun, we have shown a hydraulic ram Z), arranged to operate a lever I) connected by means of a link 6 to an arm 5 at the upper end of the cage, so that when motive fluid is permitted to act on the ram it causes the pivotal part of the cage to swing inward into the oblique position before stated, with the lower end in alinement with the gun breech. Other forms of motive power and devices can however be used for effecting the swinging movement of the pivotal part of the cage.

Spring controlled or other form of doors a and I) may be fitted to the adjacent ends of the hoisting cage and the receiving cage so as to protect the powder charges and these doors may be arranged to open and close automatically.

Referring to Figs. 8, 9, l0 and 11 the cage A is provided with a cam a which when the cage reaches its top position actuates a lever b pivoted on the cage B. To the said lever 19 is attached a bevel wheel 6 which in turn rotates a bevel pinion Z) keyed to the hinge pin 72 of one of the doors 5* of the cage B. The two doors 6* are connected by means of levers b and b and a connecting rod 6 The said doors are closed by means of a spring 6 The doors a of the cage A are opened by the outward movement of the rammer D. The tappet bolt d is restrained from outward movement by the head of the rammer D and as the rammer moves the spring d forces the bolt cl outward against the sliding bar a carried by the cage A. The bar a acting through a connecting rod a and a lever a rotates the hinge pin a of the door a The two doors a are coupled together by levers a and a and a connecting rod a hen the bolt cl is withdrawn the'doors a are closed by a spring a acting against a collar on the bar a What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance, the combination of a hoisting cage for raising the projectile and powder charges together to a position contiguous to the gun, a receiving orv loading cage connected with the gun mounting so as to move when the angle of elevation of the gun is changed, means for transferring the projectile and the powder charges from the hoisting cage to the receiving or loading cage, and means for causing the said receiving or loading cage to assume the loading posit-ion behind the gun breech.

2. In ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance, the combination of a hoisting cage for raising the projectile and powder charges together to a position contiguous to the gun, means for causing the said cage, when raised, to follow the movements of the gun in its changes in elevation or depression, a receiving or loading cage connected with the gun mounting so as to move when the angle of elevation of the gun is changed, means for transferring the projectile and the powder charges from the hoisting cage to the receiving or. loading cage, and means for causing the said receiving or loading cage to assume the loading position behind the gun breech.

3. In ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance, thecombination of a hoisting cage for raising the projectile and powder charges together to a position contiguous to the gun, a receiving or loading cage comprising a fixed part connected to the gun mounting and a second part pivotally connected with the said fixed part, means for transferring the projectile and the powder charges from the hoist-ing cage to the receiving or loading cage, and means for swinging said pivotal part of the cage into the loading position behind the gun breech.

4. In ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance, the combination of a hoisting cage for raising the projectile and powder charges. together to a position contiguous to the gun, a receiving or loading cage comprising a fixed part connected to the gun mounting and a. second part pivotally connected with the said fixed part, means for transferring the projectile and powder charges together from the said hoisting cage to the pivoted part of the receiving or loading cage and means for swinging said pivotal part of the receiving or loading cage into the loading position behind the gun breech.

5. In ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance, the combination of a hoisting cage for raising the projectile and powder charges together to a position contiguous to the gun, means for causing the said cage, when raised, to follow the movements of the gun in its changes in elevation or depression, a receiving or loading cage, a slide frame for the gun, an arm forming a prolongation of said slide frame and upon which the receiving or loading cage is mounted, means for transferring the projectile and the powder charges from the hoist-ing cage to the receiving or loading cage, and means for bringing the said cage into the loading position behind the gun breech.

6. In ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance, the combination of a hoisting cage for raising the projectile and powder charges together to a position contiguous to the gun, a hydraulic press and a hoisting rope for raising said cage, a slide frame for the gun, a sheave over which said hoisting rope is passed carried by said slide frame, a receiving or loading cage connected with the slide frame for the gun, means for transferring the projectile and the powder charges from the hoisting cage to the receiving or loading cage, and means for bringing the said cage into the loading position be hind the gun breech.

7. In ammunition hoisting and loading apparatus for ordnance the combination of a hoisting cage for raising the ammunition to a position contiguous to the gun, means for causing the said cage, when raised to follow the movements of the gun in its changes in elevation or depression, a slide frame for the gun, a receiving or loading cage mounted on said slide frame, a rammer on said frame for transferring the ammunition from the hoisting cage to the loading or receiving cage, meansfor bringing the said receiving or loading cage to the loading position behind the gun breech, and a rammer for transferring the ammunition from the receiving or loading cage tothe gun.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON. JAMES HORNE. WVitnesses to signature of said Arthur Trevor Dawson:

HENRY KING, F. MAGEE. Witnesses to signature of James Horne:

W. H. ATKINSON, GHAs. KENNETH Cox.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

